Duterte seeks help from China, Japan for US$135 billion in power projects

Manila is hoping to attract more investments in energy projects from China and Japan, as the country pushes forward with plans to boost generation capacity by 43 gigawatts in the coming decades, according to Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

“There’s a lot of expressions of interest to invest in the Philippines, and we’re going to make it easy for investors,” Cusi was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in an interview Wednesday. “We are open to all parties, all countries. In all the trips we had, we made the sales pitch.”

Japan has either sponsored or financed projects with a combined value of US$23.7 billion, including those currently under construction or planned, throughout Southeast Asia. While China has backed US$32.8 billion worth, according to research from BMI.

The proposed projects include an LNG terminal to be built in Batangas province, which will have an initial annual capacity of 5 million metric tons.